Souvenir - by Carole Turbin (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

CAROLE TURBIN'S SOUVENIR COMBINES vivid writing, photographs, and art to tell the arresting story of growing up in Queens, New York, in the1940s and '50s with a distant mother and a mercurial father who sold souvenirs of New York to retail shops in Times Square and Chinatown. Finagler, practical jokester, gambler, and later magician--he could swing from angry rejector to loving parent. In the 1960s and '70s, the author escaped to Europe and California, becoming an artist, feminist, and historian. Much later, when he was an old man and she was middle-aged, she realized that he'd encouraged her art by advising, "If you're afraid, draw it," and that she shared his strong emotions and determination. She drew images of plumbing that conveyed her visceral childhood fears and made peace with him, drawing his portrait on his deathbed.

Review Quotes

"This lively portrait of an eccentric father and an artist's coming of age explores the family dynamics of growing up in Queens as a second-generation Jewish American. Turbin documents her complicated love-hate relationship with her father--who late in life becomes a magician, the "Great Turbino"--acknowledging his pivotal influence on her love of drawing, and recognizing her accomplishments as avisual artist and historian. The book beautifully integrates the author's art with period photographs and fascinating research about becoming American. Her story mirrors all of ours."
--Susan Newmark Fleminger, artist and art educator

"Souvenir draws in the reader from the first page; I could not put it down. Turbin's vibrant picture of growing up in New York mirrors the turbulent historical times and gives the reader a vivid insight into the social history and material culture--clothing, interior design, and domestic appliances--of mid- and late-twentieth-century America. The many wonderful photos and drawings bring to life people, events, and objects."
--Miriam Glucksmann, author of Women on the Line
and Cottons and Casuals